On Monday, the MSBA group and I were lucky enough to visit CSM / LeadDog to speak with Tim Cahill, Manager of Strategy & Consulting, and Laura Miranda, Manager of Integrated Partnership Sales & Strategy. CSM is a full-service sports and entertainment agency that recently acquired several startups and agencies to bolster their US operations, LeadDog Marketing Group being one of them. LeadDog is an award winning boutique sport and entertainment turnkey marketing agency, one which I was honored to have interviewed with and very nearly interned at this summer. If not for a last minute push by Madison Square Garden, I may very well have ended up here and the trip was very interesting to see through that lens. CSM/LeadDog is involved with, to name a few, MLB, NHL, NFLPA, NCAA, MLS, USGA, USTA, PGA, WWE, NASCAR, ESPN, ABC, NBC, Chelsea F.C., and many more. Much of Tim’s responsibilities live in the realm of data analytics, a topic I specifically wanted to educate myself more on throughout the summer to build as a foundation for my professional career. CSM / LeadDog, like many other agencies we’ve seen this summer, use data more and more to verify their assumptions, support their undertakings, and bolster their business in a myriad of ways. Despite having flown in from Wisconsin that morning (6:00 AM flights following sleepless nights with good friends make for a tough Office Field Trip) and being completely devoid of any energy, I still found myself captivated by what CSM / LeadDog is involved in and the work Tim and Laura take on. It was a truly educational experience, and one I am very grateful for.

“Be appreciative. This is the greatest city in the world, live like it.”

With all this said, I wanted to close out my final blog post with some lessons and musings from my time in NYC so far:

1. The 34th Street/Herald Square Q station and the 32nd/Park Ave 6 Station do not turn their heaters off when winter turns to summer. If anything, they turn them up.
2. Sneakers with a suit are a thing in NYC for a reason. Leave your work shoes at work or find yourself a good shoe guy.
3. All pizza is not created equal. 99¢ pizza seems like a good deal, but stay clear.
4. If you’re eating Chipotle, drinking Starbucks, or buying grocery store bagels in NYC, you’re doing it wrong. We live in the Mecca of food and culture, eat local and eat different.
5. Relationships are everything. Relationships are everything. Relationships are everything.
6. Billy Joel has played 100 sold out shows at Madison Square Garden, the most by a single artist in any arena.
7. Coach David Fizdale of the New York Knicks sounds like comedian Hannibal Burress.
8. Patrick Bateman was right: a good business card should feel superior.
9. The effort three grown men will put into surviving while not buying a pack of toilet paper all summer is far greater than you could ever imagine.
10. Walk on the right side of the sidewalk, or get shoulder checked on the left.
11. Cabs don’t know where they’re going and can’t give you an estimate; take advantage of Lyft lines frequently.
12. “Deli & Grocery” isn’t the name of a chain; it’s how NYers eat on the go. Go into the ones that smell the best.
13. Never eat lunch alone.
14. DOS31 Cocina+Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn makes amazing Dominican food at great prices.
15. Being nice to wait staff will take you far. Clean up after yourselves, you might be rewarded with free drinks.
16. The guy handing out his self-produced rap album on the street almost definitely loaded ransomeware software on that CD. Avoid at all costs.
17. An empty subway car on an otherwise full train is empty for a reason. Also avoid at all costs.
18. Google Maps doesn’t have any idea how to get you around in NYC. Use CityMapper.
19. NYC doesn’t mean Manhattan. Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island (barely …) all have awesome things to do. Get out of Midtown.
20. Data is the future. Learn vlookup at the very minimum; your future employer and bank account will thank you.
21. At Madison Square Garden, when department lunch is on Mr. Dolan, it’s okay to go big. Go ahead, order that steak.
22. That 50-year-old SVP isn’t going to be around when you’re finally in the position to ask him for something. Make friends with your generational peers.
23. Don’t be afraid to push further if you don’t get a satisfactory answer to a question. It would be pointless to ask if you accept a sub-par answer.
24. Never assume the train is going to be on time.
25. Never assume the train isn’t broken down. Or on fire. Or in another dimension.
26. Basically, assume everyone in NYC doesn’t want you to get where you’re going and act accordingly.
27. Color-code your email inbox. When you get hundreds of actionable emails a day, you’ll be grateful.
28. Be appreciative. This is the greatest city in the world, live like it.